Greetings! My name is Rosemary, and I work at the Indian Creek Branch. I've worked at the library for almost 11 years now.

I've always loved books! I homeschooled, and my parents made sure we had plenty of time for reading. Pretty much all they had to do to get me to read was hand me a book. I was introduced to a lot of classics by being given copies of them for birthdays and Christmas. All I have to do now is look at the inscriptionÂ inside to know what year I read books like The Secret Garden, Little Women or The Hobbit.

One of my most treasured books is a signed copy of A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle. Inside she wrote, "For Rosemary, tesser well." I've read it too many times to count and it is still one of my favorites.

Some of my fondest memories are of my mom reading aloud books like Mrs. Piggle Wiggle and Half Magic to my brothers and me. That's part of the reason whyÂ Â Â Â Â Â I started To Be Continued at the Indian Creek Library.Â Â Â I love to read aloud chapter books, and this allows me to share some of my favorites. To Be Continued will be meeting every Monday at 4pm this summer. Come join us!

When I'm not working or reading I like to play board games with my friends, crochet and travel!

If you're trying to memorize the 50 states and their capitals, here are a couple of tips. You can check out the music CD, Songs of America, which has the ABC states song on it. The song is to the tune of "Turkey in the Straw." The CD also has an instrumentalÂ version of "Turkey in the Straw," so you can practice the song!

Hello, hello, hello, hello! Iâ€™m Kate, and I work at the Indian Creek Branch. Iâ€™ve been a librarian for just 8 years, but Iâ€™ve been a book lover my whole life. My dad read to my brother and me just about every night. When I was 6, I was given a book of poetry, and Iâ€™ve loved poetry ever since. Thatâ€™s me at 6 in the photo on the right. One of my favorite books is â€œThe Wolves of Willoughby Chaseâ€ by Joan Aiken. Our school librarian read it to us, and we eagerly awaited the â€œnext episodeâ€ because the story was a little like Lemony Snicketâ€™s books.

I enjoy traveling and have lived in Lebanon and Ethiopia. Now the library enables me to travel the world without every leaving home. I can learn about different countriesâ€”their myths and folktales, special holidays they celebrate, their history, religion, and customs. I enjoy reading chapter books that are set in other countries and times as well. There are also wonderful DVDs to take me to other countries.

When Iâ€™m not at the library, Iâ€™m rather like you. I like to play outside (well, work in my yard), listen to music, read books and magazines, watch movies, play computer games, and visit with my family and friends. When I was a kid, I spent the summer swimming and riding my bicycle. My friends and I would pretend we were secret agents, solving mysteries. Being a librarian allows me to be a detective every day, helping you find books youâ€™ll like and locating information for your homework projects.

I still love reading all sorts of books, as well as listening to books on CD. I just listened to â€œPrincess Academyâ€ by Shannon Hale, and I think Megan McDonaldâ€™s Stink books are hilarious! Some other new favorites are â€œEmma Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Treeâ€ and â€œThe Invention of Hugo Cabret.â€

Here are a couple of secrets: when I was 8, we had an English bulldog named Mack the Knife who looked just like Fido, the dog you can find on Fridays in the library during the summer. I was also in Girl Scouts from Brownies through Cadets, and I learned to play the piano. Perhaps youâ€™ll share a secret with me the next time you come to the library. Hey, that rhymes! Could it be poetry?

Hello.Â My name is Jennifer.Â I work at the main library.Â I've worked at the Olathe Public Library for over 12 years.Â Before coming to Kansas, I worked in libraries in Kentucky and California.Â I seem to like states that start with the "k" sound (Kansas, Kentucky, California!).

I've always been a bit of a reluctant reader.Â When I was in elementary school you would very seldom have found me curled up with a good book.Â Instead you would have found me outside shooting hoops, playing 3 Flies Up with the neighborhood kids, or building tree houses.Â I associated reading with school work - it wasn't something I thought of as fun.Â My fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Salidivar, changed that.Â After recess she would read aloud to the class.Â Â The first book she read to us was A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle.Â It was magic, and I was hooked!Â Â A Wrinkle in TimeÂ will probably always be my favorite book.Â I've read it several times since then, and I always seem to get something new out of it each time I read it.Â

Some of the books that I've read recently and really enjoyed are Clementineby Sara Pennypacker, Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney, and the Children of the Red King (Charlie Bone) series by Jenny Nimmo.Â Clementine and Diary of a Wimpy Kid were both very funny andÂ made me laugh out loud.Â If you enjoyed the Harry Potter series, try the Children of the Red King series.Â You might like Charlie Bone, too.Â The Harry Potter series may have come to an end, but there are still more Charlie Bone books to come.Â I'm eagerly looking forward to the next installment!

Some days I'm still a bit of a reluctant reader.Â Â It's something that's been hard for me to overcome.Â But I've had enough experience by now to know how easy it is to get lost in a good story and how rewarding a good book can be.Â Â One ofÂ my favorite parts ofÂ being a librarianÂ is connecting kids with good books andÂ helping them to discover the joyÂ of reading.Â Sometimes all it takes is finding that one special book.

When I'm not at the library (or reading) I like to spend time in my backyard watching the wildlife (mostly birds and squirrels) and trying to make things grow.Â I'm not a very good gardener.Â Â I plant flowers, fruit,Â and vegetables in my yard, but they don't always survive.Â Â Trying to figure out what goes wrong isÂ a bit like doing a science fair project.Â Did I water too much?Â Or maybe not enough?Â Still, when my plantsÂ thrive andÂ theyÂ actually produceÂ flowers, fruit,Â or vegetables, IÂ find itÂ very exciting.Â It still amazes me how such a big pumpkinÂ can grow from just a seed!

An imaginative mouse dreams of being queen of the world, but will settle for an invitation to the most popular girl's slumber party.Â Join Babymouse on more adventures in Babymouse: Our Hero and Babymouse: Beach Babe!

The annual exhibit of artwork by elementary students of the Olathe District Schools is now on display in the Children's DepartmentÂ of the Main Library.Â The artwork will be up from February 22 through March 28.Â Come check out this cool display and get inspired to make a little art of your own!Â

Have you ever wondered aboutÂ those peopleÂ you see sitting behind the deskÂ when you visitÂ the library?Â This isÂ a new feature on our blog to help you get to know them just a little bit.Â Each month we will profile a different Children's Department staff member atÂ the Main LibraryÂ or Indian Creek Branch.Â They will tell you a little about themselves, what they like to do, what they like to read, and maybe some interesting trivia.Â This month we are featuring Mr. Gregg.

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Hi! My name is Gregg (I'm the one on the right), and I work at the Main Library. I've worked at the Olathe Public Library for overÂ 15 years. Boy, does that make me feel old!

One of the best books I've read recently is Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate.Â It's a chapter book told in free verse about Kek, a young Sudanese refugee, who immigrates to Minnesota.Â It tells ofÂ his struggles to adjust toÂ the unfamiliar American culture while trying to come to grips with the horrors of his past.

I studied art in college and love to visit art museums and galleries and occasionally even create some art of my own.Â I do a lot of the artwork in the children's area at the Main Library.Â I like all kinds of music and play the guitar, recorder,Â and mountain dulcimer.Â (If you're looking for some good children's music, let me recommend Bill Harley or John McCutcheon.)Â IÂ share my home with aÂ sweet, black cat named Lorelei.Â So if you ever notice strange clumps of black fur clinging to my clothes, that would beÂ why!Â One of my favorite quotes is from Albert Schweitzer:Â "There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life:Â music and cats."

Well, that's just a little bit about me.Â People often tell me I'm lucky to work at a library, and I have to agree!

Is there someone special to whom you'd like to give a Valentine?Â Your mom or dad?Â Your brother or sister?Â Or maybe that boy or girlÂ that sits across the aisle from you at school?

The Olathe Public Libraries will be transformed into Valentine Factories on February 14th.Â The Valentine Factory at the Indian Creek branch will be open from 10:00 a.m. - noon.Â At the main library, the Valentine Factory will be open from 3:00 - 5:00 p.m. Â Come make a Valentine for someone you love.

February is Black History Month, and the Children's Department at the Main Library is celebrating with a display case featuring "Famous Firsts in Black History."Â How well do you know black history?Â See if you know the persons behind the following accomplishments:

First African American Major League Baseball Player

First African American Supreme Court Justice

First African American Nobel Peace Prize Winner

First African American to Sing at the Metropolitan Opera

African American Co-discoverer of the North Pole

First Black Licensed Aviator in the World

First African American Astronaut in Space

First African American Secretary of State

First African American Pulitzer Prize Winner

First African American President

To find the correct answers, click here.Â How many did you know?Â To learn more, stop byÂ our display in the Children's Department at the Main Library and then browse our biography section for more booksÂ about famous African Americans.

Are you a fan of the I Spy books by Walter Wick?Â Then you should check out the display in the Children's Department at the Main Library.Â In our glass display case Miss Diane has assembledÂ a three dimensional version of an I Spy puzzle.Â One of the rhyming clues reads:

I spy a Santa and four stacking dolls,
a glittery red heart and two wooden balls...

There are snowmen, a soup can, a tiara, a tea cup, a golf tee, a tiny book, necklaces, crayons, candy and more.Â Â Do you think you canÂ find all the items in the clues?Â Stop by the Main Library anytime during the month of January and test out your spying skills.